"fixings and fastenings"

The building’s striking appearance is enhanced by custom-coloured Alspec fixed louvres, ensuring optimum environmental performance.

Our Fixed Louvres provide a practical solution to maximise window shading without compromising light or views for those inside.

The $11.3 million dollar renovation of Lambton Square required Rondo product throughout including our Key-Lock Concealed Ceiling System, Steel Stud Wall framing system and various other Rondo components for the fixing of plasterboard and feature panels.

Rondo is proud to be a supplier to ADNOC's new headquarters complex, which will be both a landmark building for the company as well as for the United Arab Emirates. Rondo have supplied the drywall framing as well as a wall cladding system using Rondo Furring Channel and fixing clips.

For a busy place like The Star casino complex in Sydney, it’s important for visitors and employees alike to be able to come and go from the car park without any hassles. But after a significant amount of wear and tear, The Star’s existing metal expansion joint covers were leaking between floors. Not only that, they were a trip hazard too as the fixings began to dislodge.

Rondo’s Seismic products within each system included DUO Perimeter Trim Sliding Clip (Rondo 850), KEY-LOCK TCR Seismic Joiner (Rondo 865) and Seismic plenum braces. With the KEY-LOCK Seismic Concealed Ceiling System, two-side fixed, free wall perimeter connections and Rondo 141 Wall Track (1.15BMT to suit 129 Furring Channel) was used.

Rondo provided a solid support foundation, using resources from both international and Australian technical services departments. The South West Pier (Stage 1), was built by Rachana Arts and saw Rondo provide assistance for the Corian cladding to the columns by creating adjustable and concealed fixings that were purposely designed for the hollow section support framing, as well as providing Stud and Track to support the various cladding materials.

Ivanhoe’s newest building is a landmark you can’t miss. The facade components of light bricks, dark cladding and luminous aluminium Click-on Battens perfectly complement each other, creating a contemporary finish. The interior also features our battens, which seamlessly connects to the exterior. The building comprises a three-level basement, ground floor retail outlets, two levels of offices and multiple fully appointed apartments among the two upper levels. The building is bordered on three sides by busy public roads which posed logistical challenges with its construction. However, the speed and ease of installing Click-on Battens alleviated this issue on the upper levels. The curved facade is wrapped in Sculptform aluminium Click-on Battens. They were installed upon standard and curved tracks which were delivered to site in a flexible state so that they’re able to be wrapped around the substrate and hug the exterior. Batten clips are factory fixed to the tracks at the spacing sequence that is specified. Helping to save time installing on-site. Battens are simply push-clicked onto mounting tracks that are positioned behind the battens in a concealed manner.

APPLICATION: 30mm Wall PanelsPROJECT LOCATION: Redland Bay QldPROJECT DETAILS: Seeping WallsPROJECT COMPLETION: Jun 2011Atlantis fixing old water seepage problemsA property in Redland Bay Qld was having water seeping through the walls of the lower part of the property, which was below ground level.A trench was excavated to expose the walls which were below ground level, and the walls were allowed to dry out.A waterproof membrane was affixed to the wall and Atlantis® Flo- pipe® geotextile wrapped perforated pipes were clicked together and laid on top of the lower fold of the water proof membrane.A run of Atlantis® Flo-cell® drainage cells was sat on the perforated pipes and taped to the waterproof membrane, to extend along the length of the trench. The run of drainage cells was covered in hydrophilic geotextile and the trench filled in with compacted gravel.The water proof membrane formed a barrier to prevent water from contacting the walls of the property, while the 30mm drainage cell formed an air gap to relieve any hydrostatic pressure on the water proof membrane. Any water entering the drainage cell falls into the perforated pipe where it is taken away. This arrangement has been used, literally, thousands of time to overcome or prevent this seepage problem.

SAS International bespoke metalwork comprising of a striking waveform shaped ceiling was designed by architects Arup Associates to feature in the construction of Ropemaker Place, London EC2 for British Land. Simon Anson, architect at Arup Associates comments; “The purpose of the ceiling was to provide the 10.5m tall entrance foyer with an acoustic performance, and create a lighting source providing both uplight and downlight. The illuminated ceiling provides the entrance foyer with visual impact from views of City Point Plaza, Ropemaker Street and The City.” Simon Anson continues, “The appearance of the ceiling is that of a series of illuminated vaulted waves flowing into the interior, the volume of the space perceptually expanded by the uplit waveform surfaces. The vaulted ceiling with its flowing contours provides a visually stunning focal point as well as a practical solution to the acoustic requirements of the interior of the building.” Specialist bespoke wave ceilings were installed in the atrium, main reception area, lift lobbies and main external canopy. The waveform panel, although elegant in appearance, had to have the required strength to support the light fitting. The extra weight posed a significant design challenge of how to integrate and support the light fitting into the waveform panel. The complex design required all fixings to be concealed, as a large proportion of the face and rear of the waveform tiles are visible. In the design development and installation of the system, Arup Associates worked closely with SAS International and the specified lighting manufacturer, Zumtobel, to ensure the panels integrated seamlessly with the luminaires to produce the optimum installation.

One New Change features SAS International bespoke metal ceiling panels with an expanded metal mesh, finished in silver, red and black. The ground-breaking, bold and perceptive £300 million One New Change mixed-use development project won the MIPIM AR Future Project Award 2010. Now complete, the building has become known as the ‘Stealth Bomber’ after the radar-proof combat plane that inspired its faceted form and has also won a RIBA 2011 Award for London and LDSA Building Excellence Award. The design incorporates pedestrian arcades converging at the core of the building, reinstating a historic north-south pedestrian route and allowing new panoramas of London’s landmark St Paul’s Cathedral. SAS International supplied the ceiling solution for the retail corridors of the development with a concealed suspension system, working closely with the architects to create a result where no visible fixings can be seen through the ceiling plane. To complement this, bespoke metal ceiling panels were produced with an expanded metal mesh, finished in silver, red and black. A challenging material to work with, to ensure the mesh held a uniform shape and corners for the panels could be formed accurately, SAS International’s solution was to create a ‘picture frame’ behind each panel. This also helped to provide support for the concealed attachment bolts. Design challenges at One New Change included the building grid size and shape (it was termed the most difficult site in Europe), the complex geometry of the structure (including some tight ceiling to structural beam heights), and a shared fire strategy between retail and office storeys. Requirements to achieve an environmentally-friendly building, complying with Part L and BREEAM ratings, were also critical and the design uses a materials palette of limestone, metal, mirror and a new method of fritted glass on the exterior to help shield the interior from glare.

Birmingham New Street Station was originally re-built in 1967 to accommodate 650 trains carrying 60,000 passengers per day. By 2010 it had become the busiest station outside of London, operating at more than twice its intended capacity. The first half of the refurbishment was completed in 2013. The station’s recently updated configuration should now accommodate a yearly 8.3% rise in passenger numbers. SAS International commenced work on the three-phase project in June 2012. NG Bailey and main contractor Mace installed SAS systems across the platforms, the shopping centre and the concourse. Full scale, physical mock-ups of the bespoke ceiling solutions were built on-site to ensure design intent prior to installation. The integration of fans for smoke extraction and complex wind loads had to be considered to guarantee passenger safety. The wind loads were a concern as trains passing platforms at speed can cause considerable negative loads. Bespoke ceilings comprising fixed angle bulkheads were installed in line with the curving platforms. The typically trapezoidal bulkheads were bolted end to end in order to form a faceted layout to follow these curves. Using shared data from the project’s BIM model, SAS International used a point cloud to measure the platforms and 3D model the panels. The model’s geometry revealed that the platforms were all non-uniform. This posed a significant design challenge. The data required careful analysis in order to achieve a smooth curved line within the platform edge. This was essential to provide train drivers with an unobstructed view coming into and out of the station. The SAS International design team was able to rationalise the number of unique panel types down to four. This overcame the driver visibility issue, ensured uncompromised aesthetics and brought costs within budget. Electronic Total Station setting-out techniques were then used to set out the panels along the curve.

The Burj Khalifa – formerly the Burj Dubai – is a legendary building that can only be described in superlatives. At 828 metres high, it is the tallest building in the world. The Burj Khalifa has 160 floors, more than any building in the world. The building also has the highest floor, the highest façade made of aluminium and glass, the highest nightclub and the highest restaurant, the highest service lift and the lift with the longest travel distance. Finally, the building has the highest positioned revolving doors ever installed in a façade worldwide. In less than 30 years, Dubai has become the leading city in the Middle East and is known for its architectural and technical excellence. The Burj Khalifa has become the symbol of this progress. The Burj Khalifa also takes the title of the highest structure in the world back to the Middle East; the Great Pyramid of Giza used to hold the title 4 millennia ago. International Collaboration The tower was designed by architectural firm Skidmore, Owings & Merril, known for their designs for the Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower) and the new One World Trade Center in New York. The three-pronged design is based on the spider lily desert flower and consists of three elements around a central core, with the elements spiralling upwards. It can rightly be called an international project: the construction team consisted of Samsung Engineering & Construction employees from South Korea in collaboration with Besix from Belgium and Arabtec from the United Arab Emirates. The UK consultancy Hyder Consulting was responsible for overseeing construction of the building. In total, companies from more than 30 different countries contributed to the construction of the Burj Khalifa. A Windy Challenge The wind is quite a challenge when building a skyscraper of this size. Without additional measures, the top of the building would move so much from side to side due to the wind that people would become seasick. Dubai is also regularly tested by the shamals: sandstorms that can last for days. As the outer façade of the Burj Khalifa contains an enormous amount of glass, these weather conditions presented a considerable challenge. The three-part design proved to be the solution because the spiral floors break the wind currents around the building, resulting in a stable structure. The World's Highest Revolving Doors Skidmore, Owings & Merril's design includes an observation platform on the 124th floor of the building. Two glass revolving doors provide access to this room. At 442 metres above the ground, these are the highest positioned revolving doors ever installed in the façade of a building. The revolving doors must also be able to withstand an extremely high wind load of at least 3000 Pascal, which corresponds to an F3 class tornado. The Burj Khalifa required two automatic revolving doors with a diameter of 3,000 mm and a total height of 2,700 mm; the cover could only be 300 mm high with the motor installed. Generally speaking, a revolving door with these specifications would only be able to withstand wind loads of up to 689 Pascal. It was clear, then, that not every revolving door manufacturer could supply an entrance that met these requirements. Challenge Accepted Koninklijke Boon Edam was one of only two companies invited to devise a system for this challenge. There were two main problems that had to be solved: the round sides of the revolving door had to be strong enough to resist the wind, and the door set had to be properly fixed so the door wings could not be blown off during a storm. Boon Edam worked closely with Mace, the Hyder Consulting Group, Samsung Engineering and Construction and Turner Construction, the subcontractor, to develop a system that met all these requirements. During the first phase of the process, the second company invited to tender had to give up because their design did not meet the challenging conditions on the 124th floor. Boon Edam persisted in its efforts, and after conducting various wind load and glass tests, it became possible to adapt the construction of the Tourniket to the requirements of the Burj Dubai. A Tornado-Proof Revolving Door at the Burj Khalifa Our proposal for the Burj Khalifa consisted of a Tourniket with specially reinforced door frames twice the width and thickness of a normal revolving door. These were securely anchored with special bolts under the floor to guarantee the structure's rigidity. Although most revolving doors are installed on the top of the subfloor, this door was installed under the top finish layer of the concrete floor. To guarantee the stability of the door set, an extra-thick steel frame was added to the structure. This allows the door wings to easily withstand the wind pressure. Expansion on the 148th Floor in 2014 Boon Edam installed the same specially designed Tourniket revolving door on the 148th floor as on the 124th floor. However, the new project brought an extra challenge: transporting all of the materials from the basement of the building to the 148th floor. First, the materials had to be transported in one lift to the 111th floor. They were then transferred to a second lift, from where everything had to be moved manually from the 149th floor to the 148th floor, to the door's location. Special Projects Based on Standard Solutions The revolving doors we created for the Burj Khalifa were an extreme challenge. The experience and expertise of our technicians combined with the tried and tested technology of the Tourniket enabled us to develop a successful solution. Both revolving doors are now used daily and give visitors a spectacular view of Dubai. The glass design beautifully complements the modern façade of the observation platform and puts Dubai's beautiful skyline in the spotlight.